AN888: EZR32 Simple TRX Application Quick Start Guide The EZR32LG and EZR32WG Wireless MCUs are the latest in Silicon Labs family of wireless MCUs delivering a high performance, low energy wireless solution integrated into a small form factor package.
Quick Start Guide Getting Started 1.
Quick Start Guide Getting Started Connecting Your Hardware Once you have installed all the required software you can connect your EZR32LG/WG development kit hardware to your PC. It is simply connected using a USB cable as shown below: Figure 1.1. WSTK Board Connected to PC with USB Note: For best performance in Simplicity Studio please be sure that the power switch on your WSTK is in the Advanced Energy Monitoring or “AEM” position. silabs.com | Smart. Connected. Energy-friendly. Rev. 0.
Quick Start Guide Running Simplicity Studio for the First Time 2. Running Simplicity Studio for the First Time Navigation in Simplicity Studio Simplicity Studio is built on the Eclipse platform. As such, it is broken up into different “perspectives” each of which allow access to a specific set of functionality. Simplicity Studio starts up in the “Simplicity Perspective,” sometimes referred to as the “Home Screen.” Figure 2.1.
Quick Start Guide Running Simplicity Studio for the First Time Downloading Packages for Simplicity Studio By default Simplicity Studio comes with some core components necessary for development. The real substance of the Simplicity Studio application is provided in the “Packages” available from the Simplicity Studio update site. Before you begin working with Simplicity Studio, you will want to make sure that you have all of the packages installed that you need for your development platform.
Quick Start Guide Running Simplicity Studio for the First Time Updating Simplicity Studio In addition to downloading packages, you can also update the Simplicity Studio core software at any time by clicking on the [Update Software] icon in the top right-hand corner of the Simplicity Perspective. Figure 2.5.
Quick Start Guide Running Simplicity Studio for the First Time Configuring Your WSTK for an Ethernet Connection You can also connect to your WSTK boards to be connect and discovered via Ethernet. You can configure the IP address of your device through the Simplicity Studio Home Screen by clicking on the arrow to the right of your device and selecting [Configure Adapter]. Figure 2.7.
Quick Start Guide Running Simplicity Studio for the First Time Discovering your WSTKs via Ethernet In order to discover your WSTKs via the Ethernet connection you must first configure Simplicity Studio to search for and discover your devices. You can do this by clicking on the arrow at the top of the Adapters View in the Simplicity Perspective and selecting [Configure Device Scanning]. Figure 2.9. Configure Device Scanning Figure 2.10.
Quick Start Guide Running Simplicity Studio for the First Time Upgrading the WSTK Boards to the Latest Firmware Once you have connected the WSTK boards to the computer, make sure that the boards have the latest WSTK firmware loaded. This is important in order to ensure that they will communicate with the Simplicity Studio software correctly. Simplicity Studio includes a bundled Kit Manager that can be used to upgrade your WSTK boards.
Quick Start Guide Running Simplicity Studio for the First Time Figure 2.12. Kit Manager Dialog silabs.com | Smart. Connected. Energy-friendly. Rev. 0.
Quick Start Guide Running Simplicity Studio for the First Time Configuring Your Preferred IDE Simplicity Studio is an Integrated Development Environment (IDE). However, you are not limited to using only Simplicity Studio as your IDE, you have the option of configuring Simplicity Studio to launch your preferred IDE for the development of software samples.
Quick Start Guide RF Evaluation Using Nodetest 3. RF Evaluation Using Nodetest Testing the EZR32 Using the "Nodetest" Application The “nodetest” application provides a Command Line Interface (CLI) to Simplicity Studio for RF Evaluation of a device. In order to load the nodetest application, do the following: 1. In the Simplicity Studio Perspective, select one of the RF devices you would like to load nodetest onto. 2. With the device selected, select the [Network Analyzer] tile on the right-hand side.
Quick Start Guide RF Evaluation Using Nodetest Figure 3.3. Choose Nodetest 7. The nodetest application will load onto your EZR32LG or WG wireless MCU. You will see a progress indicator on the adapter indicating that the device is being loaded. Once the application load is complete, the name of the application loaded (nodetest) will appear to the right of the adapter. silabs.com | Smart. Connected. Energy-friendly. Rev. 0.
Quick Start Guide RF Evaluation Using Nodetest Running Console for Command Line Interface to Nodetest Application Once the Nodetest application is loaded onto the EZR32LG/WG, you must first [Connect] to the device through the Adapters view, and then you can interact with the nodetest application using the Command Line Interface within the Console view in Simplicity Studio. Right-click on the [Adapter] in the Adapter’s View and select [Connect] and then [Launch Console]. Figure 3.4.
Quick Start Guide RF Evaluation Using Nodetest Running a Packet Error Test from the CLI A typical usage scenario for the nodetest application is the measurement of Packet Error Rate (PER). PER is defined in 802.15.4 as the percentage of transmitted packets that are not detected correctly. The Nodetest application provides two commands rx and tx that are designed to interoperate with each other across two nodes running this application. PER measurement procedure: 1.
Quick Start Guide RF Evaluation Using Nodetest Running the TX Test from the Simplicity Studio GUI The Simplicity Studio RF Evaluation interface allows you to configure the radio prior to running a test via a Graphical User Interface (GUI). To run the TX portion of your test using the GUI in Simplicity Studio you may either click on the [Radio Evaluation] Tile on the Simplicity Studio Home Screen or go to [Window > Show View > Other… >InSight RF Evaluation > Tests].
Quick Start Guide RF Evaluation Using Nodetest Figure 3.9. Radio TX Test Selection This will launch a Radio Tx Test View from which you can configure and run your Tx Test. From the Test View, you may run your test at any time by clicking on the [green arrow]. Figure 3.10. Radio TX Test Start silabs.com | Smart. Connected. Energy-friendly. Rev. 0.
Quick Start Guide RF Evaluation Using Nodetest Underneath the run button and progress bar, you will see four tabs: Adapter Tab The Adapter Tab presents a list of all adapters that are currently running the Nodetest application and can be used for testing. Figure 3.11. Adapter Tab Define and Send Data Tab In this tab you may define the type of test you would like to run. For a Tx test one can send either a raw stream or packets. silabs.com | Smart. Connected. Energy-friendly. Rev. 0.
Quick Start Guide RF Evaluation Using Nodetest Figure 3.12. Define and Send Data Tab Radio Configuration Tab The radio configuration tab sets the parameters for the radio that will be configured before the test is run. This includes settings such as the frequency, crystal, power amplifier, etc. silabs.com | Smart. Connected. Energy-friendly. Rev. 0.
Quick Start Guide RF Evaluation Using Nodetest Figure 3.13. Radio Configuration Tab Results Tab The results tab displays a console view of the results for your test, including the output from the radio configuration process that precedes the test. silabs.com | Smart. Connected. Energy-friendly. Rev. 0.
Quick Start Guide RF Evaluation Using Nodetest Figure 3.14. Results Tab You may also see the individual commands sent down to the device during the radio configuration process. To do this, re-open the Console view: Figure 3.15. Console View silabs.com | Smart. Connected. Energy-friendly. Rev. 0.
Quick Start Guide The Simple RTx Sample Application 4. The Simple RTx Sample Application Simplicity Studio comes bundled with an SDK for the EZR32 as part of the EFM packaged sample applications. One of the sample applications, “Simple RTx” can be used to test and work with the radio on the EZR32. To access the samples available for the EZR32, first select your USB connected device on the left-hand side under discovered devices in the Simplicity Perspective.
Quick Start Guide The Simple RTx Sample Application Click the [Next] button. In the next screen you should see all of the sample applications available for your part. Choose the [simple_rtx] sample and click [Next]. Figure 4.3. Select Simple RTx Sample Application The next screen will allow you to select a name for your application. Choose the name you want and select [Next] again. The next screen allows you to configure your Build Configurations for this project.
Quick Start Guide The Simple RTx Sample Application Figure 4.5. Readme.txt File For more information on how to load and operate the Simple Rx/Tx sample application, continue to the “Building Your Sample Application” and “Loading Your Sample Application” sections of this Quick Start Guide. silabs.com | Smart. Connected. Energy-friendly. Rev. 0.
Quick Start Guide Building Your Sample Application 5. Building Your Sample Application Using Simplicity Studio to Build Your Sample Application Once your application is generated, you have the ability to compile it using Simplicity Studio. In order to compile your application, simply click on the [build] icon in the top tool bar. Figure 5.1. Build Button Your sample application will compile based on its build configuration.
Quick Start Guide Building Your Sample Application Using IAR to Build Your Sample Application You may also build your application directly in IAR by launching IAR and opening the generated project file inside IAR. Figure 5.3. Build Sample Application silabs.com | Smart. Connected. Energy-friendly. Rev. 0.
Quick Start Guide Loading Sample Application 6. Loading Sample Application Loading Sample Application onto EZR32 with Simplicity Studio Once your sample application is built, you can load it onto your device using Simplicity Studio. There are several ways to do this. If you have compiled your application in Simplicity Studio, you will notice some images listed under the Binaries menu item in the Project Explorer View.
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